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Restaurant Break Even Covers Calculator

Work out restaurant break even covers instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Restaurant Break Even Covers Calculator

Break-even covers is monthly fixed cost divided by contribution per cover, where contribution is average spend less the variable food, beverage and hourly labour percentage. Expressing it per trading day turns an abstract target into a number the floor team can act on.

Formulas

Contribution per cover

Contribution = Average spend x (1 - Variable cost %)

Break-even covers

Covers = Monthly fixed costs / Contribution per cover

Worked example

With the default values below, Restaurant Break Even Covers Calculator returns Break-even covers per day of 40. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Monthly fixed costs (rent, salaries, utilities)
1,400,000
Average spend per cover
2,200
Variable cost as % of revenue
42
Trading days per month
28

Results

Break-even covers per day
40
Break-even covers per month
1,098
Contribution per cover
$1,276.00
Break-even revenue
$2,413,793.10

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Contribution per cover
  3. 3Break-even covers
  4. 4Break-even covers per day= 40
  5. 5Break-even covers per month= 1,098
  6. 6Contribution per cover= 1,276.00
  7. 7Break-even revenue= 2,413,793.10

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as fixed in a restaurant?

Rent, rates, salaried management, insurance, base utilities and depreciation. Hourly kitchen and service labour is largely variable.

Why is the break-even so sensitive?

Because contribution per cover is a small number relative to fixed costs, so a modest fall in spend per cover moves the required covers sharply.

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